An interior view of the Qatar National Convention Centre. QNCC has conducted 400-500 major events yearly in the last two years, says general manager Ken Jamieson.
By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter
About half a million people visited the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) for various conferences and exhibitions in 2014, a top official said.
On average nearly 500 major events take place at the venue every year, QNCC general manager Ken Jamieson told Gulf Times.
“In 2014, our analysis suggests that between 480,000 and 500,000 people visited QNCC for various events," he said. “For the last two years, we conducted 400-500 major events yearly. This excludes smaller events.”
The official said that QNCC has a great team of employees who provide all the support for events and exhibitions.
“We have about 240 full time employees and we complement them with additional staff as per the size and requirements of the events. Approximately, 90 people are regularly engaged in the kitchen and provide all types of cuisines from different parts of the world. In addition, we also cater to a number of Qatar Foundation schools and organisations.”
The QNCC general manager said the number of participants at the exhibitions at the venue has increased greatly.
“The exhibitors, especially Qatar Tourism Authority and Elan Qatar (formerly q.media) which orgnise some of the major exhibitions, have informed us that the number of visitors has considerably increased from the previous years. These numbers are authentic as they are done through a systematic audit process.
“We are an exhibition and conference centre and we are dedicated to have events. People, who are coming to the venue, are genuinely interested in the events as we are focused on business to business events. We do not go for consumer shopping events. We get people who are interested on the subject matter.”
When asked about the distance to the venue from the city, Jamieson said it was a general practice for all convention centres around the world to be out of the central business district. As for accommodation availabilities near QNCC, Jamieson said such facilities are getting ready.
“We have a hotel in Al Shaqab and we are in the middle of completing another hotel next to QNCC. It will be an onsite hotel next to the car parking area and will be opened in 2016.”
He said QNCC charges one of the lowest rents in the region.
“We provide great package at all ranges. Food and beverage at the five star range, we are at the lowest quarter of prices. At 3 and 4 star range we are at the middle range. With the state-of-the-art building and facilities, we are very reasonable,” he added.
